Dungeons & Dragons -- A Legacy

No matter where you've been or what you've played or where your allegiances now lie, none of us as current gamers can deny the influence of Dungeons & Dragons on our development as persons, let alone as gamers. The game has left a legacy to us all. Moreover, it has set the stage for gaming in the current age, and will likely continue to do so for many ages to come.

No matter what you currently think about Wizards of the Coast or Dungeons and Dragons 4, we owe them our bread and butter. They are the powerhouse leading the way, and truthfully they always have been. Don't get me wrong, lots of good stuff has come up in the wake of the greatest game known to man; but nothing matches the power and scope of the entity that is D&D.

And truthfully the guys at WoTC are doing a great job keeping the torch burning bright. The question for us is how do we contribute? What's our part in the scheme of things. It was once pointed out that there are two types of people: the type who build up and the type who tear down. I'm tired of tearing down.

Though tearing down has it's uses, especially when the edifice in question needs it. But before we go tearing things down, we should take a long hard look at what it is we are attempting to obliterate and why. Some might argue that tearing down is exactly what TSR and then WoTC did when they replaced the game you loved. But those games live on in the hands of many who preserve the heritage as it were. And they weren't so much torn down as renovated.

I've been through all these arguments with myself, with others, and in prayer with the Big Guy upstairs. Yes, this is that important to me. And I've come to the conclusion that I just love to game. I don't "hate" any element of the new to tear down the hobby in trying to do away with it. Especially since the old is in so many good hands. As I've done before, just look at the more common variants out there today:

• OD&D
• Swords and Wizardry
• Microlite 74
• AD&D
• OSRIC
• Labyrinth Lord Advanced
• Basic / Expert D&D
• Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game
• Dark Dungeons
• Labyrinth Lord
• AD&D Second Edition
• Dungeons & Dragon 3.5
• Pathfinder
• Dungeons & Dragons 4e

Just to name the more prominent ones. And more coming on the market all the time. And what can all of it be called? The Legacy. The legacy of Dungeons and Dragons through time. And I say we revel in it all. I will continue to support D&D in all it's forms and variations. And the current king deserves no less tribute simply because he wears the crown and no longer Arthur. For he is the rightful heir and he moves the kingdom forward.

So, yes: The king is dead ... LONG LIVE THE KING!!!!

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!!!!

What ya play or who ya play with?

Yep. Dilemma number 34,512.52b. Is "real" gaming what system you use or who you game with?

Shudder me gamin' timbers, but I was gaming last week with my AD&D group, and ... you guessed it: I wasn't having fun. I mean it was fun after a fashion, but not "it". It wasn't really there for me. I spent this weekend reading Greyhawk's campaign materials and trying to get excited. But it just wasn't happening. By Sunday I didn't even pick it up anymore.

I kept wondering if it as the group instead to the system. I really like watching the pathfinder group game. Why? Because they are the kind of guys I like to game with. In fact they are a lot like the kids I did game with when I was in school. They tend to be more socially soft spoken, but intellectually "loud". They might be called nerds by some, geeks by others, and the fact is at least two of them have aspergers syndrome. Funny thing that. People have any accused me of being aspergers. I don;t think I am, but there it is anyway.

In short, they are my kind of people. Makes me wonder if most of them are INTP type 5s.

Anywho I'm wondering about doing a little experiment and trying to GM PF for awhile to see if "it"'s there with a group I prefer.

It has also made me wonder if I shouldn't try and find my own gaming group. My own KODT. How do I do that though? Put an ad out there at the hobby shop?

Wanted! Four Knights for my Dinner Table?

Not sure really. It's not near as easy making friends as it used to be in school.